Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1887-09-14
Cas-.
From the Altoona County Revi,

has stepped lightly since last Friday
and well he might, for they had ex-
perienced the pleasant realization of
fond hopes they have long cherished
in the face of discouraging circum-
stances, that oil or gas existed in
abundance beneath the soil of their
little. town. At about 8 o'clock on
the night in question the men en-
ployed in boring and the few idle
sight-seers we're startled by rush of
escaping gas that suddenly burst
through from below, lifting by sheer
force the heavy apparatus used in
boring, and forcing it up the full
length of the chain by which it is con-
nected with the walking-beam, bring
ing the engine to dead stop. A
small idea of the force exerted by the
escaping gas may be gathered from
the fact that the weight of the metal
lifted by it was upwards of 5000 lbs,
and the engine is 15-horse power
the pressure of the gas was so great,
in fact, that afterwards it forced its
way through from end to end of pine
plug two feet in length that was driv-
en- into the end of the casing.
The news of the great discovery
spread like wildfre throughout the
little hamlet, and those of the villag-
ers who. had retired to dream Of gas
wells or mayhap, gushers, were quick
ly aroused, and the population of Kill
master was soon assembled about the
well, where under the mellow light of
a full moon they listened with rapt
attention to the rush of the subtle fluid
as it escaped and diffhsed itself into
thin air. Arrangements were quickly
made for combining the gas until a pipe
could be placed in position to con-
duct the gas outside the derrick.
This completed without/mishap at II
o'clock P. NJ. the torch was applied
and Killmaster was illuminated for
the first time in its history with natu-
raj gas.
The progress of the work Of boring
has necessarily been slow and at the
time of the discovery of gas depth
between $50 and 240 feet only had
been reached. Messes. Dalton Il
Martin, the gentlemen who have the
contract of boring the we'll, have push
ed the work night and day, but owing
to the unusual thickness of the strata
of quicksand they were compelled to
case the well as fast as the work of
boring progressed. This casing was
driven by sinker weighing 1900 lbs
at the rate of one-half an inch per
stroke, and the progress through the
sand has been only 10 feet per day.
They were forced to put down in the
neighborhood of 225 feet of casing 5
inches in diameter. They struck a
total of ITO feet of quicksand and be-
tween 60 and 70 feet of clay and grav-
Ell, and passed through two strata of
shale from an inch to one and half
inches in diameter.
The supply of gas seems inexhaust-
ible, and it burned from Friday night
until Monday with undated energy
and few intermissions, when the gas
was shut off for some purpose. Mon
day morning the casing was pumped
out, and large quantity of water and
sand removed, after which the force
with which the gas rushed forth SEEM
ed to redouble in energy.
The company have secured the con-
troll of territory nggregating $4,000
acres located in the vicinity Of Kill
master.
Operations were not commenced at
the spring first discovered but at a
point about twenty rods southeast of
the saw mill of Gustin & Killmaster,
AMI within about 10 feet Of branch
Of the d., B. @. Il A. r. r.
Reports from KiIlmaster say that